Switch to 3-4 Defense a Failure

The scheme isn't the problem. It's the lack of talented players. Shanahan has always sucked at acquiring defensive talent. As long as he's in Washington, our defenses will never be good, no matter what scheme we run.

If you look at our defense very closely, you will see that every player that is starting on the front seven didn't play in a 3-4 scheme in college except Barry Cofield. Cofield played some NT at Northwestern before being drafted by the NY Midgets. Every linebacker and down linemen played in 4-3 systems in college. Mike Shanahan is crappy as hell at picking players that are natural to the 3-4 scheme. As I mentioned before in this thread, Bruce Allen, Mike Shanahan, and Scott Campbell are going to have to look more closely at the NCAA football programs that run the 3-4. Most notably Alabama, Maryland, and Notre Dame.

The defensive coaches are scratching their heads after 9 straight weeks of mediocrity. The problem, I keep saying, is not the base defense that's being run. It's the personnel on the field. The same thing would still be happening if the Redskins were running a 43 defense just like back in 2006 when the Redskins finished 27th in defense.

Not 9 weeks of mediocrity, 9 weeks of steadily marching toward having the worst defense in the history of the league.

There IS a BIG difference. I would love for this defense to be mediocre right now, it might have meant one or two more wins, and we would still be in the hunt for a playoff spot. The defense is absolutely atrocious right now though, with no end in sight. If we are planning on Merriwaeather to save us, my god help us.........

If we have a truley feared pass rusher on our team not named Orakpo I'd like to know who he is. I love Kerrigan but of course he's much more effective with Rak on the other side. Who on the D-Line scares you? I was hoping it would be Jenkins but that hasn't worked out. Where's our safety blitz? That'sa joke. Polomolu doesn't play for us. Hall is never gonna be the player he was expected to be because he's never been very coachable. Add to that an uninspired...uncreative DC and you get what we've got fella's. 3-4 4-3. We'd pretty much suck either way.

Kerrigan hasn't had two guys on him since Rak went down. He's simply not getting to the QB. He's one of the best players on a bad defense. He wouldn't start for any of the top defenses. I see Kerrigan as an average to slightly above average player. We need elite players on our defense. Not average. The last potentially elite player we had on defense was #21.

If you look at our defense very closely, you will see that every player that is starting on the front seven didn't play in a 3-4 scheme in college except Barry Cofield. Cofield played some NT at Northwestern before being drafted by the NY Midgets. Every linebacker and down linemen played in 4-3 systems in college. Mike Shanahan is crappy as hell at picking players that are natural to the 3-4 scheme. As I mentioned before in this thread, Bruce Allen, Mike Shanahan, and Scott Campbell are going to have to look more closely at the NCAA football programs that run the 3-4. Most notably Alabama, Maryland, and Notre Dame.

Your point has nothing to do with mine. The majority of our defensive players aren't talented - period. Our defense would be no better if we kept the same players but switched to a 4-3.

I think it is safe today we have a lot of untalented players on defense that are not the best fit for the 3-4.

I think it is safe today we have a lot of untalented players on defense that are not the best fit for the 3-4.

I think we do not have players for either a 3-4 or a 4-3, have to get the right coach and players. Right now we have neither. Our d-line is playing like garbage, our linebackers can't cover tight ends or stop the run, and of course the secondary is the secondary. I personally prefer the 3-4, I think Orakpo and Kerrigan can be good 3-4 OLB's, and Carriker is a good DE, not a good DT in a 4-3 though (proved in St. Louis he could not play the position), so we need to change the type of 3-4 we run and change the coaching staff. and obviously draft a lot of new players. Point is it does not matter which scheme we run cause we do not have the players for either.

I think we do not have players for either a 3-4 or a 4-3, have to get the right coach and players. Right now we have neither. Our d-line is playing like garbage, our linebackers can't cover tight ends or stop the run, and of course the secondary is the secondary. I personally prefer the 3-4, I think Orakpo and Kerrigan can be good 3-4 OLB's, and Carriker is a good DE, not a good DT in a 4-3 though (proved in St. Louis he could not play the position), so we need to change the type of 3-4 we run and change the coaching staff. and obviously draft a lot of new players. Point is it does not matter which scheme we run cause we do not have the players for either.

Boom! Preach it

I think we do not have players for either a 3-4 or a 4-3, have to get the right coach and players. Right now we have neither. Our d-line is playing like garbage, our linebackers can't cover tight ends or stop the run, and of course the secondary is the secondary. I personally prefer the 3-4, I think Orakpo and Kerrigan can be good 3-4 OLB's, and Carriker is a good DE, not a good DT in a 4-3 though (proved in St. Louis he could not play the position), so we need to change the type of 3-4 we run and change the coaching staff. and obviously draft a lot of new players. Point is it does not matter which scheme we run cause we do not have the players for either.

Scheme matters when you don't have the right players. This team decided to make a major in switch on defense, yet they f'ed up by not getting the right players and a good DC that can work in the transition. Honestly, I don't care what defensive scheme they use, just get the right players period. Get a true 3-4 NT, get some ILBs that can cover TEs, and fix the safety debacle.

I know this defense has lacked talent in many areas. But things are worst when you don't have talent, you try to fit players in the wrong scheme, and we don't have a coach that can work with these deficiencies. So unless you're going to have Bill Bellichick or Wade Phillips coach our defensive unit, scheme matters and having the right players for the right scheme matters as well.

Scheme matters when you don't have the right players. This team decided to make a major in switch on defense, yet they f'ed up by not getting the right players and a good DC that can work in the transition. Honestly, I don't care what defensive scheme they use, just get the right players period. Get a true 3-4 NT, get some ILBs that can cover TEs, and fix the safety debacle.

I know this defense has lacked talent in many areas. But things are worst when you don't have talent, you try to fit players in the wrong scheme, and we don't have a coach that can work with these deficiencies. So unless you're going to have Bill Bellichick or Wade Phillips coach our defensive unit, scheme matters and having the right players for the right scheme matters as well.

Bellichick has proven he cannot coach defenses anymore. They are not forcing players to play out of scheme. Carriker is a good 3-4 end. Cofield is an average NT, could we upgrade yes we could but he is not the biggest problem right now. Jenkins has not proven anything but he is a prototypical 3-4 end. Orakpo and Kerrigan are good 3-4 outside linebackers. I agree we need to upgrade the 3-4 ILBs but our linebackers would not be good if we played a 4-3 or a 3-4. It is not like these players are out of position. The secondary is obviously terrible. We don't have players that would fit well in a 4-3 or a 3-4, because the truth is those players are just not good.